Outback Odyssey: Bush tucker in Litchfield National Park

This is the third in Mark Skipworth's 'Outback Odyssey', running on telegraph.co.uk over a fortnight.

Litchfield National Park

This is a special day, and it’s all thanks to Tess Atie, a petite, no-nonsense Aboriginal woman and MD of Northern Territory Indigenous Tours. By the end of the day, it will seem entirely appropriate that HMS Beagle named the region after Charles Darwin in 1839. Tess arrives at the hotel in a 4x4 Toyota Landcruiser, sporting a safari suit and workwear boots.

She’s small enough to be devoured in one gulp by a passing “saltie” but exudes a sure touch when it comes to Bush ways. This working mum tells it as it is, full of wisdom and inspiration, with devilish sense of humour, as we set out for Litchfield National Park, about a 90-minute drive from Darwin. Orphaned at an early age, Tess attended boarding school in Victoria but returned to her “mob” at the Top End as a grown-up. She’s proud of her culture but worries that Aboriginal ways are being lost for ever. “Keeping those traditions alive is becoming difficult. Even my own children would often rather go to the local mall in Darwin,” she says.

Watch: Australia's timeless landscapes, featuring Tess Atie

For the first time Northern Territory has an Aboriginal First Minister. “He has to change the attitudes of both ‘mainstreamers’ and Aboriginals. The former need to help the latter develop businesses and get on their feet, the latter need to break the culture of welfare dependency they have got themselves into,” says Tess. About 40 miles from Darwin, the Bush really takes hold. Tess explains that it could lay claim to being the world’s biggest man-made creation as it is entirely the product of controlled burning of the landscape.

Our first stop is the Finesse River and already it’s starting to feel like we’ve entered Jurassic Park. Shallow water, gleaming in the sun, is skirted by knotted mangrove. “We used to swim here as children even though it’s croc-infested. We were just kids!” laughs Tess. Next up Wangi Falls, an awesome double-cascade that serves a rock pool renowned for its “salties”.

Tempted by the water? The travellers by Wangi Falls

The wildlife is starting to pile up: first a three-foot goanna beneath our feet, then a golden orb spider the size of a man’s hand spinning its golden web right across our path. Wedge-tailed eagles hover above as we tuck into our first Oz barbie of ...crocodile, barramundi and kangaroo. The kangaroo, grilled to perfection by Tess, wins hands down. Like Robert (see previous Outback Odyssey), Tess is a Bush foodie who points out a bewildering array of fruits and leaves as prime tucker.

She claims to be particularly partial to echidna and python that make unlikely bed fellows in rock holes across the Top End. In this kind of sweltering heat, we’re told not to expect an abundance of wildlife during the day – most of Australia’s animals are nocturnal. In blinding sunlight, we pass the occasional road kill – mainly wallabies – en route to Towby Falls. This huge escarpment watches over mile after mile of Bush land, the first real sense of the sheer vastness of this subtropical, undeveloped region (save for the odd uranium mine). A rock formation is mirrored 60 miles away by its “brother,” says Tess, who explains how the two were banished for arguing over a female.

Our first authentic dream story. On to a “waterhole” at Florence Falls and time for a swim and a cool-off in its (supposedly) safe spring waters. A wonderful experience but you can’t really hope to relax. As we progress deeper into the Bush, termite mounds abound, from giant “cathedrals” to magnetic ones that always face north and south (see below). Tess informs us that the mounds are her very favourite tucker – “like pure chocolate” – but we’re not really sure if she’s kidding. We pull over and dive in. Much mirth and mess as we try and swallow the gritty, odourless powder – a mixture of termite saliva and faeces. Full of iron and zinc, Tess assures us. Or is it that Aboriginal streak of mischief again? Bear Grylls, take note!

We round off the day with a sunset cruise off the Darwin coast to watch the great orange ball ignite the sky once more. As the harbour waters are transformed cobalt against a fading slash of orange, the stars come out to dazzle. This close to the Equator, they hang so low in the sky that you feel you could almost touch them. Constellations are distorted by the latitude while the Milky Way is the milkiest I’ve ever seen against its jet black dome. As we chomped our way through a delicious buffet, I couldn’t help thinking whether Douglas Adams had ever visited the place. As the night sky exploded before us, we seemed to be in a real-life Milliways from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. In this other-worldly world of natural wonders, there would be more Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy moments.

The termite mounds of Australia’s Northern Territory come in several impressive varieties. Some stand close to two metres tall and are orientated north to south by their insect construction-teams, known as ‘magnetic’ or ‘compass’ termites, which helps to keep the mound cool as the Sun travels east to west across the thinner edge.

Seeing the true scale of the "cathedral" mounds

Others reach much greater heights: “cathedral” mounds, while lacking the dimensions for an ingenious cooling system, can exceed four metres. Litchfield National Park is a great place to see both types of mound.

SALTWATER CROCODILES

The saltwater crocodile, or “saltie”, is the larger of Australia’s two crocodile species (the other being the “freshie” with a noticeably longer and thinner snout). It is, in fact, the largest reptile in the world, inhabiting the country’s northern shores and rivers and much of southeast Asia. While attacks on humans are rare, one or two people are known to lose their lives to these seven-metre, 200kg monsters each year, though many more attacks are thought to go unreported among Aboriginal people and the number may actually be as high as 20 or 30.

Salties, particularly the dominant males, are extremely aggressive and see humans as prey; most attacks are fatal. In the Big Wet of the Top End, when water levels are high, salties often travel upstream and rangers in Katherine Gorge are forced to trap and relocate them to prevent them posing a danger to visitors as well as competing with the harmless-to-humans freshes. The misnamed South Alligator River is a particularly good vantage point to get up-close to these prehistoric wonders in the safety of specially-protected cruise boats.

This price includes: Return international flights with Singapore Airlines (London to Darwin, Sydney to London); internal flights (Adelaide to Hamilton Island, Hamilton Island to Sydney). Three nights in each of the following locations: Darwin, Wildman Wilderness Lodge (inclusive of Darwin transfers), Adelaide, Barossa (inclusive of 4 days car hire) and qualia (inclusive of transfers). The Ghan – 3 days/2nights, Darwin to Adelaide. All prices are per person based on twin share and subject to availability. Price valid until November 15, 2013.